James 'Sunny Jim' Callaghan, 92; was British prime minister - The Boston Globe James 'Sunny Jim' Callaghan, 92; was British prime minister By Sue Leeman, Associated Press | March 28, 2005 LONDON -- Lord Callaghan of Cardiff, the affable, self-educated sailor's son who rose from poverty to become prime minister in the dying years of consensus politics in postwar Britain, died yesterday on the eve of his 93d birthday, his family said. James Callaghan died at his family home in East Sussex County, south of London, 11 days after the death of Audrey, his wife of 67 years, a family spokeswoman said. Cause of death was not given. Lord Callaghan, who entered Parliament as a Labor Party lawmaker in 1945, was prime minister from 1976 to 1979. He was the only British politician to hold, at different times, the four posts of prime minister, Treasury chief, foreign secretary, and home secretary.

Lord Callaghan succeeded Harold Wilson in April 1976 and governed until May 1979, when strikes, financial crises, and party divisions cost him the election against Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party. The ascent of ''Sunny Jim" to become the country's fourth Labor prime minister took a combination of stamina, unflappability, and an instinct for the middle road. The stooped, bespectacled 6-footer was 64 when he inherited a quarreling party -- barely clinging to a parliamentary majority -- and an economy battered by double-digit inflation, rising wages, and a plummeting pound. Many saw Lord Callaghan as simply a caretaker, minding the store until the Thatcherites moved in with their free-market, union-bashing doctrines. Yet in two years, helped by the North Sea oil bonanza and $4 billion in bailout loans, the sterling recovered, inflation retreated to a single digit, and most workers voluntarily restrained wage demands. As Britain returned to the black again, Lord Callaghan approached the 1979 election running neck-and-neck with the Tories.

But in late 1978, the unions, fed up with wage restraints, launched their ''winter of discontent." Strikes left bodies unburied, garbage uncollected, trains paralyzed, cancer patients without hospital care, and children locked out of classrooms. Lord Callaghan stuck to his mild-mannered style. Returning from a summit in the Caribbean, he remarked, ''I do not feel there is mounting chaos." But that was not what the public wanted to hear. It wanted strong, decisive government, and the following year Margaret Thatcher ousted Lord Callaghan with a comfortable majority. Like Sir Winston Churchill, Lord Callaghan never attended college, saying he took his degree at ''The University of Life." His central themes were to align British interests with Washington rather than Europe and to maintain nuclear deterrence while working for arms control. Lord Callaghan enjoyed considerable stature abroad. President Carter and Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of West Germany often consulted him, and Henry Kissinger called him ''one of the most underrated people I know. I consider him a truly wise man, a man who grows the longer you know him." Leonard James Callaghan was born March 27, 1912, in Portsmouth to a Catholic father and Baptist mother.

His father died when he was 9, plunging the family into poverty. They received no pension until Labor came into office in 1931 and paid the Callaghans a weekly pension of 10 shillings (then worth about $2). ''After that we were Labor for life," he recalled. After dropping out of school at 16, he went to work in a tax collection office and became involved in union affairs. He married teacher Audrey Moulton in 1938. After naval service in World War II, Lord Callaghan stood for election in Cardiff and was swept in with Labor's landslide majority in 1945. Within two years he was a junior minister. He loyally obeyed Wilson in refusing to devalue the pound and was proved right. He acceded to Catholic appeals to send the army into Northern Ireland in 1969 to protect them against Protestant mobs, but warned them then: ''I can send the army in, but I'll have the devil of a time getting it out again." The troops are still there. In 1972, he sought the prestigious presidency of the International Monetary Fund. But France vetoed him and he stayed in politics.

Wilson then suddenly resigned, and on April 5, 1976, the party anointed Lord Callaghan rather than Michael Foot. As a man well acquainted with union politics, Lord Callaghan seemed a better choice than the more left-wing Foot, although his moderate socialism often infuriated colleagues. ''Jim, you're not God, you know. I'm not even sure you're a socialist," left-wing veteran Eric Heffer once growled at him. Callaghan insisted he was as good a socialist as any. ''I hate injustice," he said. ''I've known it from the worm's-eye view." In 1980, he gave up the party leadership to Foot. In 1985, he resigned from Parliament and was elevated to the House of Lords. © Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.

More: History of James Callaghan - GOV.UK GOV.UK James Callaghan Labour 1976 to 1979 Born 27 March 1912 , Copnor area of Portsmouth, Hampshire Died 26 March 2005, Ringmer, East Sussex Dates in office Major acts Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976: regulated the keeping of dangerous wild animals. Race Relations Act 1976: serious amendments to the 1968 act to make fresh provision with respect to discrimination on racial grounds and relations between people of different racial groups. Interesting facts He was the only Prime Minister to come to the premiership after holding the other 3 great offices of state: Chancellor of the Exchequer (1964 to 1967), Home Secretary (1967 to 1970) and Foreign Secretary (1974 to 1976). He was the father of Margaret Jay, Baroness Jay of Paddington, Labour peer and former Leader of the House of Lords.

James Callaghan is the only 20th-century British Prime Minister to have held all 4 major offices of state: Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister. James Callaghan (sometimes affectionately referred to as ‘Big Jim’ or ‘Sunny Jim’) grew up in poverty during the Depression. Unable to afford the tuition fees for University, he joined the Inland Revenue in the 1930s, helping to set up the Association of Officers of Taxes trade union. He was elected Member of Parliament for Cardiff South in 1945 after spending 3 years in the British Navy during the Second World War. As Chancellor, Callaghan oversaw the controversial devaluation of the British pound in 1967, which was followed by his swift resignation. His next ministerial position as Home Secretary saw the increase of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland that reached its highest point under the following Conservative administration of Ted Heath. Callaghan’s short period as Foreign Secretary, however, was interrupted by the surprise resignation of Harold Wilson in 1976. Callaghan, who was popular across all parts of the Labour Party, won the leadership election and became Prime Minister.

Callaghan’s government lost its majority of seats in Parliament on his first day in office. This forced him to rely upon the support of the Liberal Party during 1977 to 1978, and then the Scottish National Party for the remainder of the government. It is for this reason that the 1979 referendum on the devolution of powers to Scotland was produced, which was narrowly defeated by the Scottish voters. His years as Prime Minister also saw the introduction of the Police Act of 1976, which formalised Police complaints procedures; the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act of 1977, which established the responsibility of local authorities to provide housing to homeless people; and the Education Act of 1976, which limited the number of independent and grant-maintained schools in any one area. However, these years saw Britain’s economy performing poorly. By 1976, inflation had hit almost 17% with 1.5 million (or around 5% of workers) unemployed. Callaghan’s controversial decision to ask the International Monetary Fund for an emergency loan in 1976 created significant tensions within the Cabinet.

His successful leadership during the Cabinet’s careful consideration of this decision has earned him wide praise among later observers. Despite this success, further attempts by the government to reduce inflation through wage restrictions for public sector workers caused a wave of strikes across the winter of 1978 to 1979, which has become known as the ‘Winter of Discontent’. Having been severely undermined by these events, a motion of ‘no confidence’ against the Callaghan government was called by opposition MPs in Parliament in March 1979. This motion was passed by 311 votes against the 310 MPs that opposed it. The following general election in May 1979 was won by Margaret Thatcher ’s Conservative party. The Queen’s Prime Ministers - Biography.com History & Culture The Queen’s Prime Ministers A look at over half a century of meetings between Elizabeth II and the men (and woman) who headed the British government. Avatar: Social count: 339 A look at over half a century of meetings between Elizabeth II and the men (and woman) who headed the British government.

339 0 Winston Churchill was the first of 12 prime ministers who have met with Queen Elizabeth II since she took the throne in 1953. (Photo: Fox Photos/ Getty Images ) One of the Queen of England’s main duties is meeting with the British Prime Minister on a weekly basis. Elizabeth II , second only to Victoria in longevity on the throne, has held these regular confabs with twelve PMs ranging from the magisterial cold warrior Winston Churchill to the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher to the current office holder David Cameron . The conversations which cover both the political and the personal are strictly confidential and there is no record kept. But playwright Peter Morgan has provided a window into these secret gabfests with his play The Audience , starring Helen Mirren as the Queen now on Broadway (Mirren also played Elizabeth in the film The Queen for which Morgan wrote the screenplay.) Helen Mirren plays Queen Elizabeth II flanked by her prime ministers in "The Audience" on Broadway. Though the conversations have never been revealed, the connections between the monarch and her ministers can be discerned from memoirs and histories.

Here is a look at some of those historic relationships: Winston Churchill Winston Churchill, a father figure to Queen Elizabeth II, shared a passion for horses, racing and polo with her. (Photo: Carl Mydans/The LIFE Picture Collection/ Getty Images ) The Queen had a special fondness for her first prime minister, Winston Churchill , the giant of a statesman whom many felt saved the country thanks to his determined leadership during the darkest days of World War II. Churchill had a warm friendship with Elizabeth’s parents, King George VI and the Queen Mother (portrayed by Colin Firth and Helena Bonham-Carter in The King’s Speech) and represented the British people’s fighting spirit and glorious past. His coalition government had gone through a humiliating defeat at the end of the war and was briefly succeeded by the Labour Party, headed by Clement Atlee. He returned to the Prime Ministership in 1951 and Elizabeth was coronated in 1953 at age of 27.

Decades later, when asked which PM she enjoyed meeting with the most, the sovereign replied “Winston of course, because it was always such fun.” One of the household staff confirmed this, reporting that “I could not hear what they talked about, but it was, more often than not, punctuated with peals of laughter, and Winston generally came out wiping his eyes.” Their favorite topic of conversation was a shared passion for horses, racing, and polo. Anthony Eden Prime Minister Anthony Eden, who had big shoes to fill following Churchill, had a warm relationship with the Queen. When Churchill’s Foreign Secretary took over for the ailing Cold Warrior in 1955, Anthony Eden was still handsome and dashing, but his health was damaged by a surgeon’s error during a gallstone operation in 1953. He enjoyed a warm relationship with Elizabeth. An aide confided, “He was very sensible that he was following the towering figure of Churchill who had felt towards her as if she were his granddaughter and spoke to her like that.

He was very conscious that the Queen might think him [Eden] a lesser figure in that post but the Queen treated him so well that he didn’t feel like that…He always spoke of her with warm affection.” His tenure was marked by the devastating Suez crisis in which British forces, along with those of Israel and France, were forced to withdraw from Egypt. Harold Macmillan Harold Macmillan had a reverence for the monarchy and shared a love of political gossip with the Queen. (Photo: Vivienne (Florence Mellish Entwistle) [ OGL ], via Wikimedia Commons ) Despite a naturally dour manner, the next Prime Minister Harold Macmillan energetically pushed past the Suez affair and sought to reconfirm Britain’s stature as a great nation. He had a friendlier relation with the Queen than the nervous Eden. Like Churchill, Macmillan had an American mother and a reverence for the monarchy. Their meetings were respectful, but they shared a love of political gossip which Macmillan happily provided.

He called her “a great support, because she is the one person you can talk to.” Harold Wilson Harold Wilson was Queen Elizabeth II's first prime minister from a lower-middle-class background and gave her a window into the world of her subjects. (Photo: Vivienne (Florence Mellish Entwistle) [ OGL ], via Wikimedia Commons ) Labour leader Wilson attained the office after having defeated Macmillan’s successor Conservative Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the 14th Earl of Home who renounced his peerage to serve in the House of Commons, and held the office of PM for only one year. Wilson was Elizabeth’s first prime minister from a lower-middle-class background. Despite his shining record at Oxford, he retained his Yorkshire accent and enthusiastically followed his local soccer club. He was close to the Queen in age, enjoyed women’s company and respected their intelligence. For their first meeting, he brought along his family, who waited in the antechambers. Traditionally, the PM arrives alone. In spite of some initial awkwardness, Elizabeth warmed to Wilson’s informal manner and she took the unusual extra step of inviting him to stay for drinks after the meeting.

He offered a chance for the monarch to stay in touch with her subjects that the previous high-born PMs could not. James Callaghan James "Sunny Jim" Callaghan said of the Queen: “What one gets is friendliness but not friendship.” Nicknamed “Sunny Jim” and standing at six foot one, James Callaghan was the tallest of the Queen’s prime ministers. His meetings with the Queen were a brief interlude of calm in the midst of political turmoil. Numerous strikes crippled the country and later brought down Callaghan’s Labour government. He had a relaxed relationship with the Queen. She even once threw away protocol and placed a flower in his buttonhole during a stroll at Buckingham Palace. But he realized she had the same outgoing manner with all of her prime ministers—the one exception being Churchill who was a father figure. “What one gets is friendliness but not friendship,” Callaghan said. Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher was strictly professional, formal and somewhat frosty during her weekly meetings with Queen Elizabeth II.

(Photo: Chris Collins of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation (Margaret Thatcher Foundation) [ GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons ) You might think that the chats between the Queen and the nation’s first female Prime Minister would be a touch more relaxed than those of Margaret Thatcher ’s male counterparts. But there was very little, if any, “girl talk” with the Iron Lady who kept the encounters strictly professional, formal and somewhat frosty. Whereas Elizabeth and Callaghan enjoyed debating the issues of the day, Thatcher had a tendency to lecture. “The Queen found that irritating,” a general close to the monarch confided. A royal relative once compared the two leaders. The comforting Queen was like the mother to Great Britain while the strict Thatcher was the headmistress who made sure you obeyed her rules. In office from 1979 to 1990, she turned out to be Elizabeth’s longest serving PM. John Major John Major and the Queen coped with crises together including the Gulf War, economic downturns, and Prince Charles's scandalous estrangement from his wife Diana. (Photo: PFC TRACEY L.

HALL-LEAHY, USA [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons ) Thatcher’s Conservative successor John Major proved to be a calming influence on the Queen as she was dealing with the scandalous estrangement and possible divorce of her son Charles , the Prince of Wales and his wife Diana . The audiences were like mutual support sessions as Major was coping with crises of his own including the Gulf War and economic downturns. Tony Blair Tony Blair had a royal tiff with the Queen after he referred to the late Princess Diana as "the People's Princess," but they found common ground when the Queen addressed the nation following Diana's death. After the Conservatives were swept away in 1997, Labour leader Tony Blair was determined to lead Great Britain into the 21st century and to modernize what he regarded as antiquated institutions such as the government’s relationship with the monarchy. In his frank memoirs, he gently mocked such traditions as the expected visit to the royal home Balmoral: “a vivid combination of the intriguing, the surreal, and the utterly freaky.

The whole culture of it was totally alien, of course, not that the royals weren’t very welcoming.” A further cooling of royal relations occurred when Princess Diana died in a car crash and Blair referred to her as “the People’s Princess.” The Queen regarded this characterization as potentially alienating her from her subjects and turning Diana into an icon of popularity. But Elizabeth won Blair’s respect when she addressed the nation and publicly joined in their grief. Gordon Brown Gordon Brown enjoyed a close relationship with the Queen who occasionally imitated his Scottish accent. Blair resigned in 2007 due to his unpopular support of the Iraq War. His Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown took over the reigns of government. Brown’s rough-hewn manner contrasted with Blair’s smoothness and he had enjoyed a close relationship with the Queen who occasionally jokingly imitated his Scottish accent. The banking crisis of 2010 led to his ouster. David Cameron The Queen first saw David Cameron when he appeared as a child with her son Prince Edward in a school production at Eton. The current PM marks a return to tradition.

The Queen had first seen the future Conservative leader David Cameron when he appeared at age eight with her son, Prince Edward , in a school production of Toad of Toad Hall at Eton. His coalition government with the Liberals has called for greater financial independence for the Royal Family and he enjoyed a warm relationship with the Queen who happens to be his fifth cousin, twice removed. Tags James Callaghan - Biography - IMDb James Callaghan Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trivia (14) | Personal Quotes (9) Overview (5) 26 March 2005 , Ringmer, East Sussex, England, UK (lobar pneumonia, cardiac failure, and kidney failure) Birth Name 6' 1" (1.86 m) Mini Bio (1) Jim Callaghan was born on 27th March 1912 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, to a Catholic father and Baptist mother. He was the only son and younger of 2 children. His father was a Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer of Irish ancestry, who died when Callaghan was aged 9. His father died when he was 9, plunging the family into poverty.

They received no pension until Labour came into office in 1931 and paid the Callaghans a weekly pension of 10 shillings (then worth about $2). He had an unspectacular education at Portsmouth Northern Secondary School, and left at 16 to work as a clerk for the Inland Revenue and became involved with the union (Staff Federation). He later met Harold Laski, the Chair of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee. Laski encouraged him to stand for Parliament. Callaghan served in the Royal Navy Patrol Service in World War II from 1943, but while on leave he was able to get selected as a Parliamentary candidate for Cardiff South, later Cardiff South East. He won the seat in the 1945 UK general election. He rose steadily through the party in Opposition, and stood for the leadership after Gaitskell's death in 1963. In 1964 as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he decided not to devalue the pound, which proved to be a disastrous decision. He was forced to do so three years later and felt obliged to resign as Chancellor and became Home Secretary, where he was able to partially restore his reputation.

During this time there was worsening violence in Northern Ireland and in 1969 he sent troops to the province, initially to protect the Catholic minority. In Opposition Callaghan became Shadow Foreign Secretary, and in government after 1974 it was his job to renegotiate the terms of Britains EC membership. When Harold Wilson resigned unexpectedly, Callaghan was not the favourite to win the leadership, being the oldest candidate at 64. However, he was the least divisive candidate, and won the vote. He was Prime Minister from 1976 to 1979. As a PM he presided over a sterling crisis, which led to negotiations with the IMF for a rescue package. However, problems became more difficult when Labour lost its overall small majority in 1977, following a succession of by-election defeats. They became dependent on the support of the Liberals to survive. However, Callaghan persevered in office even when this pact broke down. During the 'Winter of Discontent' in 1978, industrial action over pay policy severely damaged the governments authority.

Following a loss of a confidence motion on 28 March 1979 by just one vote, Callaghan was obliged to hold a general election, which was won by Margaret Thatcher 's Conservative Party. He resigned as leader of the Labour party in September 1980, shortly after the 1980 party conference. In 1983, he became Father of the House as the longest continuously serving member of the Commons and one of only two survivors of the 1945 general election. The other one was Michael Foot , who, however, had been out of the House from 1955 to 1960. Callaghan remained an MP until the 1987 general election when he retired after forty-two years as a member of the Commons. The same year, he was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Callaghan of Cardiff. In 1988 his wife Audrey spotted a letter to a newspaper which pointed out that the copyright of Peter Pan was about to expire. Callaghan moved an amendment to the Copyright Bill then under consideration in the Lords to extend it permanently, and this was accepted by the government.

(Royalties from Peter Pan go to the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital) He was married for 67 years to Audrey Elizabeth Moulton. They had a son and two daughters. Margaret, born in 1940, became Baroness Jay of Paddington and was Leader of the House of Lords from 1998 to 2001. Julia was born in 1943 and Michael in 1946. He died at his farm in Ringmer, East Sussex on 26 March 2005 on the eve of his 93rd birthday and just 11 days after the death of his wife Audrey. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Aernout Fetter (apfetter@zonnet.nl) Spouse (1) ( 28 July 1938 - 15 March 2005) (her death) (3 children) Trivia (14) On February 14th, 2005, he became the oldest living British Prime Minister at 92 years, 10 months and 18 days old.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (April 1976 - May 1979). He was created a Knight of the Garter by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 1979 and subsequently a life peer as the Baron Callaghan of Cardiff upon leaving the House of Commons in 1987. He is the only man to have held the highest four positions in the British government: Chancellor of the Exchequer (1964-1967), Home Secretary (1967-1970), Foreign Secretary (1974-1976) and Prime Minister (1976-1979). Resigned as leader of the Labour Party in 1980, the year after his general election defeat by Conservative Margaret Thatcher . He and Audrey are survived by their three children, 10 grandchildren and six great grandchildren. It is in large part due to his wife Audrey that he remained in politics after the devaluation of sterling on 18 November 1967, when he was chancellor of the exchequer.

Were it not for her advice in the course of their long private discussions late into that night, he would have resigned from the government and might never have succeeded Harold Wilson as prime minister in 1976. His eldest daughter Margaret Jay - now Baroness Jay of Paddington - was formerly Lord Privy Seal, Leader of the House of Lords and Minister for Women. Previously, she was Minister of State at the Department of Health. His wife, Audrey, latterly Lady Callaghan of Cardiff, was Chairman of the Great Ormond Street Hospital from 1969 to 1982. It was she who prompted Jim to amend the Copyright bill and make the Hospital's copyright of "Peter Pan" permanent. He and his wife were married for 67 years. His wife Audrey passed away on 15 March aged 91, so he was only a widower for 11 days. He was the tallest Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at nearly 6'1". He died on the sixtieth anniversary of the death of David Lloyd George , one of his predecessors as British Prime Minister. Ex-father-in-law of Peter Jay .

On 3 Apr 2016, BBC Parliament channel broadcast Callaghan Night to commemorate 40 years since he became Labour leader. Personal Quotes (9) Gallery: British prime ministers | Politics | The Guardian British prime ministers Share on Messenger Close As Tony Blair enters his last two weeks as premier, we look back at the 51 people (52 including Gordon Brown) who have been elevated to the office of prime minister, starting with Sir Robert Walpole in 1721. You can also buy a wallchart of all the PMs, complete with their nicknames, by clicking here .

Friday 15 June 2007 11.12 EDT First published on Friday 15 June 2007 11.12 EDT Sir Robert Walpole (Whig) 1721-42 'Sir Blustering'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Graphic Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington (Whig) 1742-43Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Graphic Henry Pelham (Whig) 1743-54 'King Henry the Ninth'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle (Whig) 1754-56, 1757-62 'Hubble-bubble'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire (Whig) 1756-57Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian John Stuart, Earl of Bute (Tory) 1762-63 'Jack Boot'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian George Grenville (Whig) 1763-65 'Gentle

 Shepherd'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Charles Watson-Wentworth, Marquess of Rockingham (Whig) 1765-55, 1782Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian William Pitt 'the Elder', Earl of Chatham (Whig) 1766-68 'The Great Commoner'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Augustus Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton (Whig) 1768-70 'Royal Oak', 'The Turf Macaroni'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Frederick North, known by his courtesy title Lord North (Tory) 1770-82 'Boreas' [the North Wind]Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian William Petty, Earl of Shelburne (Whig) 1782-83 'The Jesuit in Berkeley Square', 'Malagrida'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian William Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of Portland (Whig) 1783, 1807-09Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian

 William Pitt 'the Younger' (Tory) 1783-1801, 1804-06Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Henry Addington (Tory) 1801-04 'The Doctor'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian William Wyndam Grenville, Lord Grenville (Whig) 1806-07 'Bogey'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Spencer Perceval (Tory) 1809-12 'Little P'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Robert Banks Jenkinson, Earl of Liverpool (Tory) 1812-27Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian George Canning (Tory) 1827 'The Cicero of the British Senate', 'The Zany of Debate'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Frederick Robinson, Viscount Goderich (Tory) 1827-28 'Prosperity Robinson', 'Goody Goderich', 'The Blubberer'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Arthur Wellesley,

 Duke of Wellington (Tory) 1828-30 'The Iron Duke', 'Europe's Liberator'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Charles Grey, Earl Grey (Whig) 1830-34Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne (Whig) 1834, 1835-41Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Sir Robert Peel (Tory) 1834-35, 1841-46 'Orange Peel'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian John Russell, Earl Russell (Liberal) 1846-51, 1865-66 'Finality Jack', 'The Widow's Mite'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby (Conservative) 1852, 1858-59, 1866-68 'Scorpion Stanley', 'The Rupert of Debate'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian George Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen (Tory) 1852-55Illustration:

 Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Henry Temple, Viscount Palmerston (Liberal) 1855-58, 1859-65 'Lord Cupid', 'Lord Pumicestone' Photograph: Guardian Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative) 1868, 1874-80 'Dizzy'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian William Ewart Gladstone (Liberal) 1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, 1892-94 'Grand Old Man', 'The People's William'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Robert Gascoyne Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative) 1885-86, 1886-92, 1895-1902Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Graphic Archibald Primrose, Earl of Rosebery (Liberal) 1894-95Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Arthur James Balfour (Conservative) 1902-05 'Bloody Balfour'Illustr

ation: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (Liberal) 1905-08 'CB'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Herbert Henry Asquith (Liberal) 1908-16 'The Sledgehammer'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian David Lloyd George (Liberal) 1916-22 'The Welsh Wizard', 'The Man Who Won the War'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Andrew Bonar Law (Conservative) 1922-23 'The Unknown Prime Minister'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) 1923, 1924-29, 1935-37Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian James Ramsay MacDonald (Labour) 1923-24, 1929-31, 1931-35Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Arthur Neville Chamberlain (Conservative) 1937-40 'The Coroner'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Sir Winston Leonard

 Spencer Churchill (Conservative) 1940-45, 1951-55 'Winnie'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Clement Richard Attlee (Labour) 1945-51 'Clem'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Sir Anthony Eden (Conservative) 1955-57Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Harold Macmillan (Conservative) 1957-63 'Supermac', 'Mac the Knife'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Sir Alec Douglas-Home (Conservative) 1963-64Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Harold Wilson (Labour) 1964-70, 1974-76Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Edward Heath (Conservative) 1970-74Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian James Callaghan (Labour) 1976-79 'Big Jim', 'Sunny Jim'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Margaret Thatcher (Conservative) 1979-90 'The Iron Lady

', 'Maggie'Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian John Major (Conservative) 1990-97Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Tony Blair (Labour) 1997-2007Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian Gordon Brown (Labour) 2007-Illustration: Damien Rochford Photograph: Guardian The Top 10 British Prime Ministers - Listverse The Top 10 British Prime Ministers Ryan October 25, 2007 The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom and the leader of the executive branch of government.

The Prime Minister is a Member of Parliament, and in his executive capacity, is accountable to Parliament. The post is generally acknowledged to have begun with Sir Robert Walpole on 4th April 1721 when he obtained the post of First Lord of the Treasury. The incumbent Prime Minister is Gordon Brown, who took over from Tony Blair on 27th June 2007. 10. Edward Heath Wikipedia Edward Heath was Prime Minister from 19th June 1970-4th March 1974. His time was difficult, particularly with domestic problems in Northern Ireland and tremendous industrial unrest. One of his great triumphs was the 1973 Sunningdale Agreement, which while short-lived, was the first real attempt by a Prime Minister to put a stop to ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. However, what Heath is most remembered for is bringing the UK into the European Economic Community. He called an early election and after inconclusive results he resigned. 9. James Callaghan Wikipedia Possibly the most controversial on this list, James Callaghan was Prime Minister from 5th April 1976-4th May 1979.

He had a minority government and relied on coalitions to survive. His premiership was largely unsuccessful, with the 1970’s economic crisis dominating his time in office. In March 1979 a Motion of No Confidence was raised against him in the House of Commons, which was passed by one vote. He was therefore forced to call elections, and was defeated by Margaret Thatcher. 8. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Wikipedia Sir Henry became Prime Minister on 5th December 1905 and left office on 7th April 1908. His short term as Prime Minister brought one great success. He negotiated the Anglo-Russian Entente, which among several other things gave Afghanistan official recognition as a British Protectorate by Russia. The Anglo-Russian Entente was the final part of the Triple Entente between the UK, France and Russia. Although not a military alliance, the 3 powers fought as allies for the greater part of World War I, which undoubtedly weakened the Central Powers to an extent they could be beaten. He also introduced ‘sick pay’ and pensions for the elderly. He resigned due to poor health and died just two weeks after leaving office. 7.

Herbert Asquith Wikipedia Herbert Asquith was Prime Minister through much of World War I. He took office on 7th April 1908, and served for over 8 years, resigning on 5th December 1916. The most notable success of his time as Prime Minister was his conduct in World War I, however, he also brought in National Insurance, which is often forgotten in history. Importantly, he also attempted to allow devolved government in Ireland through the Home Rule Act of 1914, however, due to the outbreak of World War I, this was postponed and led to even more unrest in Ireland. He was the first Prime Minister to take the radical step of allowing devolved government in a member of the United Kingdom. Asquith is also commended for bringing in the Parliament Act of 1911, which reduced the power of the House of Lords so they could only delay, and not outright reject a bill passed from the House of Commons. He resigned on 5th December 1916 and left office on 7th December. 6.

Charles Grey Wikipedia Better known as the Earl Grey, he took office on 22nd November 1830 and left on 16th July 1834. His most notable achievement was the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire. He also introduced new measures to protect children, in restricting the ways in which they could be employed and the manner of work they could undertake. The Earl Grey reformed the electoral system through the Reform Act of 1834, which created new parliamentary seats for expanded towns and cities. This act also increased the numbers in the electorate who could vote. However, he specifically stated that women may not vote, and so sparked the beginning of the Suffragette Movement. In 1834 he quietly retired. 5. Tony Blair Wikipedia Tony Blair was Prime Minister from 2nd May 1997-27th June 2007. Despite the highly unpopular war in Iraq, and the Cash for Peerages scandal, Tony Blair will go down in history as one of the great British Prime Ministers.

His tenure included huge successes including the devolution of government to Scotland, Wales and eventually Northern Ireland; the popular House of Lords reform; the introduction of the Minimum Wage; the Civil Partnership Act of 2004 which allowed same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual married couples. His most notable achievement from this was that of the St. Andrews Agreement of 2006, which set out a timetable for a new devolved government in Northern Ireland. The situation in Ireland had plagued Prime Ministers since the turn of the 20th century, and the Belfast Agreement of 1998, followed by the St. Andrews Agreement marked a turning point in the politics of Northern Ireland. Tony Blair resigned on the 27th June 2007, angering many over his failure to serve a full term, despite promising to do so. 4. William Pitt Wikipedia William Pitt (the Younger) served as Prime Minister on a number of occasions during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was first Prime Minister in 1783, and finally on 23rd January 1806 when he died.

He is the youngest Prime Minister ever entering office at the age of 24. He was the first Prime Minister publicly opposed to the Slave Trade, and acknowledged the problems associated with the colonies. William Pitt was disgusted that Louis XVI of France had been executed, and went to war with the post-revolutionary France in 1793. Possibly the most memorable event during William Pitt’s tenure is the Act of Union 1800. This merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 3. Winston Churchill Wikipedia Winston Churchill served as Prime Minister 3 different times throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s; however, his most important term was his first, which lasted from 10th May 1940-23rd May 1945. He is held in history as one of the greatest wartime leaders of all time, with his time in office lasting throughout the Second World War. Possibly his greatest attribute was his ability to make rousing and emotionally charged speeches to retain a high morale in the British people through the darkest days of World War II.

He was quickly voted out after the end of the War, which was probably for the best, as he was largely seen as an incompetent peace time leader. This is possibly most obvious through his own words, as Churchill entered office by declaring, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” 2. Margaret Thatcher Wikipedia Margaret Thatcher entered office on the 4th May 1979, and left on 28th November 1990. She was the first, and as of 2007 the only female Prime Minister in the UK. The first test during her premiership was that of the Hunger Strike during 1981. During it, a number of members of the IRA went on hunger strike in an attempt to regain their status as Political Prisoners. She became known for her hard line attitude, stating publicly that she didn’t care if the hunger strikers were to die. This attitude was reinforced later that year during the Iranian Embassy Siege. The Falklands war of 1982 and her conduct of it cemented her position as a national hero.

Thatcher’s efforts and successes in decreasing the power of the Trade Unions, and her handling of the Miner’s Strike of 1984-1985 also helped secure her already positive legacy. She is also remembered for her privatization of many government-owned industries. Her demise is often described as the greatest political downfall in British history. Despite still being incredibly popular among the British people, Thatcher was voted out by her own party and effectively ruined by her Cabinet. She retired as an MP in 1992, however, she is still an active member of the House of Lords today. 1. Clement Atlee Wikipedia Clement Atlee was Prime Minister from 27th July 1945-26th October 1951. He won a landslide victory over Winston Churchill and was the first Labour Prime Minister to have a majority in the House of Commons. During his term he allowed India to have independence, in a move largely seen as the end of the British Empire. Thus, he moved the UK into the modern era on the world stage, while also reducing British power and influence. This structural change to the Empire allowed for the beginning of the Commonwealth.

Undoubtedly his greatest achievement was the introduction of the National Health Service which gave healthcare universally to the whole population. Notably, he was also very successful in the difficult task of moving from a wartime economy to a peacetime one. As the first rumblings of the Cold War began, Atlee secured the position of the UK as a loyal ally to the United States of America in an alliance that has lasted to this day. In 2004, Atlee was voted as the greatest British Prime Minister of the 20th century by MORI; an opinion which is also largely held by the British public. He lost power in the 1951 General Election and died in 1967. Contributor: Ryan Jim Callaghan, our 'worst PM’, was nothing of the sort - Telegraph Jim Callaghan, our 'worst PM’, was nothing of the sort Despite his poor reputation, he was a better man and premier than Tony Blair or Gordon Brown.

On the centenary of Jim Callaghan's birth, we should recognise his qualities as a patriot and a statesman By Leo McKinstry Comments His name will be forever associated with the grim days of the late 1970s, when Britain was paralysed by industrial chaos. In the popular imagination, Jim Callaghan was the disastrous Labour prime minister who presided over unprecedented national decline as our country became “the sick man of Europe”. Even Callaghan himself once admitted that he would not be “the slightest bit surprised” if people “come to the conclusion that I was the worst prime minister since Sir Robert Walpole”. But he was being too harsh on himself: he was a far more substantial figure than the verdict of history suggests. Today, on the centenary of his birth, we should recognise his qualities as a patriot and a statesman. Despite the daunting economic circumstances he faced, he was a leader who brought a natural dignity, authority and calmness to his role in Downing Street, as well as a unique depth of experience. He is only politician ever to have served in all four great offices of state: the Home Office, Foreign Office, Chancellorship and Premiership.

Indeed, Denis Healey, whose career ran almost exactly in parallel with Callaghan’s, was full of praise for his commanding style, describing him as “the best of Britain’s post-war prime ministers after Attlee”. Callaghan was certainly a less dismal PM than several others in the 20th century, including Chamberlain, Balfour and Eden. But I would also argue that, for all the miseries of the Winter of Discontent, he caused far less long-term damage to Britain than his two Labour successors in the highest office, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. When Callaghan departed in 1979, the mess that his government left was reversible, as Margaret Thatcher heroically demonstrated. But, tragically, the same is not true today. Blair and Brown, the twin architects of New Labour, altered the fabric of our country forever, through their ideological attachment to mass immigration. During their 13 years in power, they brought a social revolution whose pace of change is still accelerating. As politicians, Blair and Callaghan could hardly have been more different. The latter was born into a tough, working-class background in Portsmouth in 1912, the son of a seaman, and he remained socially conservative all his life.

His own Downing Street aide, Bernard Donoughue, described his values as “those of a Non-conformist Victorian”. Having served with distinction in the Royal Navy in the Second World War, Callaghan retained an instinctive sense of national pride all his life. In contrast, Blair, a smooth lawyer born into the affluent middle-class, is a typical member of the fashionable metropolitan elite, where British patriotism is viewed with deep suspicion and reverence for globalisation is an article of faith. That is why, in the notorious words of one of his advisers, Blair was so desperate to “rub the Right’s nose in diversity.” Border controls were abolished, visas were dished out like confetti, and the enforcement of the dogma of multiculturalism became the central ethos of the state. All this would have been unthinkable to Callaghan. In fact, as home secretary in 1968 he pushed through legislation that restricted the right of Asians from East Africa to settle in Britain, even if they had British passports. Justifying his tough stance, Callaghan warned that “immigration and settlement largely by coloured persons into a relatively small number of concentrated areas” would “aggravate” social problems.

In his diary, Labour Cabinet minister Richard Crossman recorded that, on the question of East Africa, Callaghan made it clear “he wasn’t going to tolerate any of this bloody liberalism”. Blair’s destructive line on immigration was eagerly followed by Gordon Brown, with the annual number of arrivals reaching almost 600,000. And Brown exacerbated the pressures on our nation by piling up unprecedented levels of debt through his reckless profligacy. Again this was something that Callaghan, with his Old Labour conservatism, would have found abhorrent. In 1976, soon after taking office, he publicly warned against the folly of trying “to spend your way out of a recession”. Related Articles

Question: Which British prime minister was known as Sunny Jim?
Answer: Jim Callaghan